Lonzo Ball Says Nas is “Outdated”…ummm ok?

Image: BET.com

You ever try to debate with your Uncles at family gatherings about who the greatest football or hoop player of all time was, just to get expeditiously curved with a history lesson? Or perhaps a change of subject, because they just don’t have the time to go back and forth with you? As passionate as the younger generation can be about what they “know”, their predecessors typically shut down the nonsense with seasoned matter-of-fact type precision. A lot of The Culture has been up in arms with Lonzo Ball’s supposed diss to Nas stating he’s “outdated and nobody listens to Nas no more”. Ball even went further to say real “Hip Hop” is Migos and Future. My question is, why is everyone surprised?

I stan for Nas wholeheartedly. In fact, when I wrote my album review for Life is Good, in 2012, I recognized it as one of my favorite bodies of work from the veteran MC’s catalog. Nas is undoubtedly in my top 10, and I’ll cape up for him whenever the moment arises. In this case, here’s why I don’t have to. Lonzo Ball is all of what..19 years old? He’s a young ball player. In pregame warm ups and practice, what do you think dominates his playlist to pump him up for the court? It isn’t “One Mic” and probably not “Ether”. His appeal to music, like most teenagers of his generation do not stem from conscious roots, cyphers, or political views. His appeal to music stems from the energy from it. Even in the short clip, the mere mention of Migos and Future sends him into this brief turn up moment on camera. The voice in the background clearly doesn’t know any of the lyrics, as he mumbles just the song’s cadence. Ball is cheesing, he’s dancing, he’s all about the energy.

I shouldn’t have to preface this by saying Ball’s opinion takes nothing away from Nas legacy at all. Nas has already been cemented as legendary, and will remain that way because of his impact in The Culture. If you want to school the young man about who helped pioneer The Culture, cool. Sit the young man down on your knee and give him a history lesson. I, for one, keep Nas in rotation on my Tidal playlist amongst many others who keep his music alive, but trying to convince a barely 20 year old young man of this? I’ll pass. It’s cute for fake controversy but, it’s not worth too much attention.